Patna: After the fifth round of the Sarat Jain Memorial Bihar State Sub-Junior Chess Championship, organised by the Bhojpur District Chess Association under the aegis of the All Bihar Chess Association (ABCA), Arpita Singh of Bhojpur is leading the girls’ category, while Pratyush Kumar and Avyay Sharma of Patna, along with Tejas Shandilya of Muzaffarpur, are jointly leading the boys’ category with five points each.
On the second day of the championship, held at Maina Sundar Dharamshala in Ara, Pratyush Kumar of Patna, playing with the white pieces, defeated Kartikeya Nandan of Patna on the first board in the fifth round. Tejas Shandilya of Muzaffarpur triumphed over Rairath Vats of Patna on the second board, and Avyay Sharma of Patna bested Jayesh Mishra of Darbhanga on the third board, securing their joint lead at the top with five points each. Ayush Kumar of Kishanganj and Agastya Mittal of Patna are in second place, jointly holding 4.5 points.
In the girls’ matches, top-seeded Arpita Singh of Bhojpur defeated Kritika Ranjan of Patna with the white pieces on the top board, cementing her lead. Second-seeded Aadya from Muzaffarpur, playing with the black pieces on board two, overcame Manisha Yadav of Darbhanga to secure the second position. Kritika Ranjan, Shalini Shrivastava of Patna, Navya Goenka of Muzaffarpur, and Simran Kumari of Bhojpur are all tied for third place with four points each.
Tomorrow, the final day of the tournament, will feature two rounds of play in the boys’ category and one round in the girls’ category, with the prize distribution ceremony scheduled for 3 pm.
